


Blood of the Covenant

by TyrannyRat



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M, Magic AU, Multi, OT3, minor OCs - Freeform, they're just there to further the plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-25
Packaged: 2018-09-01 10:10:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8620435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TyrannyRat/pseuds/TyrannyRat
Summary: When Griffon Ramsey finds nine year old Gavin Free at the end of a trail of blood, Gavin becomes the center of the small town rumor mill. It doesn't help that his magic is rather explosive. At least he has his two older, adoptive brothers, Michael and Ryan, to look out for him. Still, he's happy to leave the superstitious town behind when he turns eighteen and heads to the University of Magic Users with his siblings. It seems, however, that the ill omens that announced Gavin's arrival only follow him to the new city. Now people are getting hurt, and Gavin aims to discover why.





	1. Prologue: Blood in the Snow

Worried eyes and frantic whispers surrounded Griffon as walked through town, snow crunching under her boots. Griffon was used to a few whispers here and there, a few pointing fingers, as the Ramseys were a highly influential family in the magical community, but this was different. This was fear, and none of it was directed towards her. She approached the apothecary vendor. “Excuse me, sir. Is there something going on?” The vendor looked up at her with a wry smile that instantly made Griffon even more on edge than she had been before.

“My dear, haven’t you heard? Something terrible is on the horizon.” He looked positively gleeful at this. She grimaced.

“What are you talking about?” There was unease settling in her stomach. Was someone hurt? Worse?

“Blood, my dear. Blood in the snow! Discovered just this morning.” Griffon let out the breath she had been holding and scowled.

“Oh, for heaven’s sakes. Is that all?” All this fuss over a silly omen. The vendor looked disappointed by her reaction.

“Is that all? Surely someone of your magical stature would recognize the significance--” She cut him off,

“I recognize that it holds very little significance whatsoever. People and animals bleed on the ground all the time. Just because there happens to be snow cover at the time means very little.” Now the vendor really looked put out.

“Are you going to buy something or not?” he grumbled. She sighed and pulled out a few coins to restock her supply of newt eyes.

“Can you point me in the direction of this blood?” He grunted and made a vague hand gesture towards a side street. She hurried off in the direction indicated. If there was an animal or a person injured, she intended to find them and make sure they were alright.

There was a crowd of people surrounding the splatters of blood. They were muttering to themselves and shaking their heads. Griffon pushed through them. She saw there was a trail, and not only that, it looked like something heavy had been dragged through the snow. Before she could do anything with this information, she saw the town’s squat mayor bustling towards her. “Oh! Mrs. Ramsey! Just the woman I needed to see!” Griffon raised her eyebrows. It wasn’t unusual for the mayor to come to the Ramseys for help, since both she and her husband were rich and powerful, and the general population liked to see the mayor working with them, but usually he didn’t look quite so harried.

“Hello, Thomas. I told you that Griffon would do just fine.” Thomas came to a stop right in front of her and nodded.

“Yes, yes, Mrs… Griffon. Listen,” he lowered his voice, “the whole town is in a right tizzy over all this… blood omen business. If you could just… I know you don’t believe in fortune telling, if you could maybe calm everyone down. People trust you Ramseys more than they trust a politician, you know.” Griffon sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her face.

“I wouldn’t say I don’t believe in prophecy and fortune telling, Thomas, but I will agree that omens are usually a bit silly. This especially… it must be so common. I will talk to them.” Thomas looked relieved.

“Thank you, Griffon.” Griffon cleared her throat loudly.

“Excuse me, everyone.” The crowd turned towards her slowly. “Has anyone actually followed the trail?” People shifted, mumbling inaudibly until one man, Griffon vaguely recognized as a local schoolteacher, spoke up.

“Mrs. Ramsey, surely you know how dangerous that would be.” Griffon pulled her jacket tighter around her and began following the trail herself.

“Should the source be a wounded predator, I might find myself in a bit of trouble, yes, but I’m capable of defending myself.”

“That is not what I mean--”

“I’m well aware of what you meant. I will bring back whatever injured person or creature this blood originated from and then you can all stop acting like a bunch of gossiping old witches.” Griffon ignored the dark muttering that followed this statement. The trail took her past the treeline, into the forest. So it probably was an animal, then. Perhaps she should be careful. She didn’t want to be attacked by a wolf or worse, a bear. But she hadn’t been lying when she said she was capable of defending herself. She continued deeper into the forest, taking care to step over twisted roots and jutting stones. Eventually, her ears picked up the sound of sobs. It sounded like a child. She broke into a run until she could see a small, huddled form sitting at the base of the tree. She couldn’t make out any features, as the child was wrapped in a black cloak. “Are you alright?” She felt a bit stupid for asking. Obviously the answer was no. She heard a startled gasp and the child looked toward her. It was a little boy, no older than nine, his face covered in cuts and bruises.

“Please help me,” he sniffled. Griffon approached him slowly, so as not to scare him, and knelt down beside him.

“What happened? Where are you hurt?” The boy sniffed again.

“It’s my leg, Miss.” She noticed the boy had an English accent. Odd. She didn’t know of anyone from England, nor had she heard of any visitors in town. “A big dog got me when I came into town. Dragged me all the way out here.”

“You poor thing. What happened to the dog?” The boy screwed up his face and more tears slipped down his cheeks. He pointed at a dark lump in the distance.

“I didn’t mean to kill it, Miss, honest! I was just so scared and then there was a flash of light…” Griffon did her best to smile and rubbed the boy’s back.

“It’s alright. Stay here for a moment. I want to make sure it’s really dead.” She stood up and walked over to what was not a dog, but a wolf. It was very much dead. She felt sorry for it, but she knew it couldn’t have been the boy’s fault. At his age, he would have little control over any magic he had. It probably just reacted to his state of fear. She scrunched her nose when she bent down over it. It _stunk_ and not of death, but of burned flesh and fur. This was a serious wound. Where the animal wasn’t charred, it was covered in blood, and seemed to have attracted quite a lot of insects already. She’d recognize the signs anywhere. Dark magic. Then the boy couldn’t have possibly been the one to do it. Only an adult was capable of such a thing, and not one with a kind heart, either. But if it wasn’t him, then who…? She sighed and went back over to the child. Now wasn’t the time for mysteries. She had to make sure the child was taken care of.

“Where are your parents, do you know?” The child frowned and tugged at the hem of his too large cloak.

“I’m an orphan, Miss…” Griffon frowned. Too young to be living on his own. It was a wonder he wasn’t injured sooner. Well, it looked like the Ramsey household would be adding a fifth. She doubted anyone would question it, not even her husband. This boy would be the third orphan they took in. Griffon and Geoff simply did not have the heart to turn them over to the orphanage.

“I’m going to pick you up, now, alright? I’ll take you back to my home and get you patched up. Okay?” The boy nodded and held out his arms so Griffon could lift him up easier. Once she had him securely in her arms, she headed back towards town. “What’s your name, by the way? I’m Griffon Ramsey.”

“I’m Gavin,” the boy mumbled into the crook of her neck, “Gavin, um… Free.”


	2. Train Ride to Freedom

“Michael, wake up! Wake up! Wake up, wake up, wake--” Gavin’s words were cut off by the pillow to the face.

“Shut up, Gav,” Michael groaned. “Go bother Ryan.” Gavin pouted.

“Ryan’s been up for fifteen minutes already. If you sleep in any longer, we’re gonna miss the train.” Gavin had been looking forward to this day ever since Ryan had first left for higher education three years ago. Living without his oldest brother for an entire school year was hard enough, but then last year, Michael turned eighteen and went off to college as well. Gavin had to endure nine months of pure misery and heightened bullying until Michael and Ryan came back and kicked everyone’s asses for messing with their little brother. The summer had been good. Warm, lazy days spent in the company of his two favorite people in the whole world, as well as the the other two members of his family, Geoff and Griffon. Now, the days were growing shorter and cooler. School would be back in session shortly. This time, though, Gavin was finally old enough to go with his brothers.

Despite Gavin’s rather poor grades in a few subjects, he was proficient enough in the subjects of Alchemy and Defensive/Offensive Magic that he had been accepted into the University of Magical Practitioners. There was just a small hiccup. To major in Alchemy, Gavin had to pass an Elementalism class. Elementalism was easily his worst subject. Every time he wanted to summon a gentle breeze, he caused a tornado. If he tried to fill a glass of water, he ran the risk of flooding the whole town. He had once set his classroom aflame trying to light a candle and for three months they had to take the Introduction to the Elements class in the cafeteria. Everyone was furious with him. They were also scared of him.

It had always been like that. Ever since Griffon had pulled him out of the forest, there had been whispers. _“That boy isn’t right,” “no ten year old should be able to flood the entire town,” “he’s evil, that one,” “that omen was right, Gavin Free is a curse upon this town.”_ Words weren’t the only thing the townspeople threw at him. Gavin was pushed, punched, tripped, and thrown into dumpsters, among other things. It used to upset him a lot. Griffon would tell him the villagers were just silly and superstitious, Geoff would insist they were just jealous of the magical power Gavin had, but it was Michael and Ryan who managed to cheer Gavin up. After crying into Ryan’s chest for the umpteenth time because someone had thrown rocks at him (for the umpteenth time), Ryan led Gavin outside by the hand, found the man responsible, and beat him to a pulp. Maybe it was a little morally ambiguous to enjoy revenge so much, but Gavin couldn’t help but be cheered by the thought that Ryan loved Gavin enough to do that for him. Ever since then, no one dared to lay a finger on Gavin, especially if Ryan or Michael were around, because they hit first and asked questions later. This meant that Michael and Ryan also had whispers follow them wherever they went: _“those Ramsey boys are such ruffians,” “I don’t see how such an upstanding family managed to raise up such violent rapscallions,” “those boys are a bad influence on this town’s children,”_ but it didn’t seem to affect them like it did Gavin. In fact, Gavin thought they might actually enjoy it.

All in all, Gavin was glad he was going to be able to get out of town for nine months. Not only that, but he wouldn’t have to spend a day without being able to talk to his brothers. Which brought him back to the problem at hand: Michael, and his abysmal ability to wake up on time. “Micooooooool,” Gavin whined loudly and draped himself over Michael. “Get up or I’ll crush you to death.” Michael snorted.

“How? You’re a fucking twig, Gavvers.” Gavin pouted.

“I have _some_ muscle.”

“Yeah, _sure._ Alright, alright. I’m getting up. Get off me, asshole.” Gavin obliged, sliding off Michael to stand on the floor again. Gavin beamed when Michael yawned and pushed himself into the sitting position. Michael scowled back at him. “You gonna leave so I can get dressed, or are you gonna keep standing there, grinning at me, like a pervert?”

Gavin huffed.

“Like I’d want to see you naked!” He made a face at Michael and bounded out of the room. He had been packed and ready for two weeks now. Having already showered, dressed, eaten breakfast, and brushed his teeth, Gavin was now bouncing off the walls, hardly able to wait until the train arrived. He nearly ran into Ryan, coming out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and a toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. Ryan caught him by the waist as Gavin tried to run past.

“Woah, dere, buddy!” Ryan’s words came out slightly garbled. He kept one arm around Gavin and pulled the toothbrush from his mouth. “Where are you going in such a hurry? Train’s not due for another half hour.” Gavin deflated a little at that. That was so long! He wished he was on it already.

“I’m just excited.” Ryan snorted.

“It’s just school. I thought you hated school.”

“I hated the other students.” Ryan shrugged.

“Fair enough. Michael up yet?” Gavin nodded.

“I woke him up just now and left so he could get dressed.” Ryan leered and waggled his eyebrows.

“What? You didn’t want to stay for the show?” Gavin went pink and shoved at Ryan lightly.

“Shut up! You’re so gross!” Ryan laughed and dropped his arm from Gavin’s waist. Sticking the toothbrush back in his mouth, he continued on to his room to finish getting ready for the day, leaving Gavin blushing furiously in the hallway.

The minutes before the arrival of the train seemed to drag on for an eternity, but finally Gavin was hugging Geoff and Griffon goodbye and lugging his bags onto the train. It seemed that there was two to a seat. When Michael and Ryan sat down next to each other, Gavin gleefully squeezed himself between the two. There were advantages to being rail thin. Gavin heard both of his brothers sigh. “Gavin, why are you so fucking clingy?” Michael growled at him. Gavin squirmed and shifted until he was comfortable, making his brothers groan even louder.

“It’s bloody cold! You two are warm. I rest my case.” He saw Michael share an exasperated look with Ryan but despite this, Michael put his arm over Gavin’s shoulder and Ryan wrapped his own arm around Gavin’s waist. Gavin made a soft, contented noise. He had planned to stay up for the whole, five hour train ride, but he was soon nodding off. He rested his head Michael’s shoulder. The material of Michael’s hoodie was soft and the feeling of his brothers breathing in and out against Gavin soon lulled him to sleep.

He woke up about two hours later. Ryan was asleep with his back against Gavin’s arm and there were a lot more people on the train now. Michael was staring at the window, chin in his hand, other arm still around Gavin. “Hey, Michael?” Gavin said softly. He felt Michael tense in surprise, but it didn’t last long. Michael looked over at Gavin.

“Yeah, Gav?”

“Do people at the university believe in bad omens?” Michael frowned slightly.

“Don’t worry about it, Gav. Not many people there are gonna know. Just a handful of assholes from our town, and even if everyone finds out, no one there is gonna care if you bled in the snow.”

“Hmm…” Michael’s frown deepened when Gavin didn’t seem satisfied.

“You know if anyone gives you shit, Ry and I will kick their asses six ways to Sunday.” Gavin smiled gently and nuzzled into Michael’s shoulder. He felt Michael tense again, though he wasn’t sure what the cause was this time.

“Thanks, boi, but you guys can’t protect me forever.” Michael rolled his eyes.

“Just watch us.”


	3. Something Is Afoot

The school was unbelievably large and grand. It was like five mansions put together. Gavin shook Ryan awake as Michael explained what departments were in each building. Ryan helped Gavin carry his bags to his new dorm. “It's two to a dorm. You're actually rooming with Michael. I get my own room because I'm the RA.” Ryan winked and grinned. Gavin snorted.

“Can't believe anyone was dumb enough to give you that job.”

“I know, right?” Ryan chuckled. “It's great. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll and all that.” Gavin rolled his eyes.

“You're so lame. So what do we do now?”

“Well, classes don't start for another three days. You'll get your class schedule today. Michael and I can show you around, and tonight, there's going to be a welcome back party. Loud music, obnoxious college students, underage drinking, plenty of, what do you call them? Brews?”

“Bevs.” Gavin corrected with a grin.

“That's it. You know, you haven't lived in England since you were at least nine. Why do you talk like a British moron?” Gavin shrugged.

“Just what feels right.”

“Do you even remember it? You said you can't remember anything before Griffon found you.” Gavin shifted uncomfortably.

“I can't, but I guess accents are subconscious.” Gavin hated whenever his past came up. He hated lying to his adoptive family.

“Fair enough.” Michael chose that moment to walk in, dragging his own suitcases.

“What? You trying to hostile takeover my room?” Michael said, looking at Ryan’s bags. “Get your junk out of here. Go to your fancy single room, asshole.” Michael’s voice was gruff but Ryan and Gavin knew him well enough to know he wasn’t serious. When Michael flopped onto the bed he claimed for himself, Ryan laid down on top of Michael. Michael squawked and struggled.

“Aw, I know you don't want me to leave, baby.” Ryan smirked as Michael tried to shove him off.

“Get off, douchebag!” Gavin snickered at Michael’s predicament. Eventually Ryan tumbled to the floor after a particularly hard push. Ryan blew Michael a kiss and Michael threw a pillow at Ryan’s head, flushing. Seeing Michael’s blush made Gavin feel a bit warm. He liked seeing his brother's tease each other and have a good time.

“Ryan said you guys would show me around?” Michael sighed and hauled himself up off of his bed.

“Alright,” he said as Gavin helped Ryan to his feet.

  


The school was even bigger than it looked. Michael and Ryan showed Gavin all of the various classrooms and offices. “Here's the Elementalism lecture hall, next door is for practical Elementalism. It's kind of like an atrium, it's pretty cool.” Gavin was awed by everything, but at the mention of Elementalism, he deflated a little. His brothers noticed. “Aw, c’mon, Grabin, you'll do fine. You've got the theory down pat. You just need a little more practice performing.” 

“Yeah, plus if you blow up the classroom again, I, for one, will just be impressed,” Ryan said, smirking and ruffled Gavin’s hair. Gavin scoffed but butt his shoulder into Ryan’s affectionately. “Seriously, though, Gav, the amount of power you have is awe inspiring. You just need to learn how to control it.” Gavin perked up at that. The fact that Ryan thought so highly of him was truly heartening.

“Awwww, Ryan!” He hugged Ryan around the middle, nearly making him fall over.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t get all sappy.” Ryan said, lightly nudging Gavin off him after a moment. Gavin glowed brightly for the entire duration of the rest of the tour. There was a lot of different classrooms, and Gavin was afraid he wasn’t going to be able to remember them all. Michael assured him that everyone got a little lost their first day, but it was easy to pick up after that.

“Hey, Gav, help me set up for the party, would ya?” Ryan said once the tour was complete.

“Alright. Is Michael going to help, too?” Michael shook his head.

“Nah, I didn’t get to nap on the train. I’m going to catch some shuteye.”

“But you’re coming to the party, right?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” Michael called over his shoulder as he headed back to his and Gavin’s dorm.

  


There wasn’t a whole lot to do, actually. The party was taking place in some frat house. Ryan didn’t belong to a fraternity, but he apparently had good standing with them. All they had to do was bring in some plastic tables, a couple of coolers of booze and soda, a few foldable chairs, and a ton of snacks. “We should get punch,” Gavin said as he surveyed the room. “Every party needs punch, so someone can spike it.” Ryan snorted in amusement.

“Please. You’ve got some beer. You couldn’t even kill a single elephant with that. Somebody’s gonna want to pour vodka into some punch and if there’s no punch what will they do? They can’t pour vodka into the snack bowl, Ryan. That’s madness. Madness!” Ryan rolled his eyes.

“Fine, you win. Go buy us some punch and a punch bowl.”

“What? Just me on my own? You’re not gonna come with me?” Gavin pouted. He didn’t know this town, or where anything was.

“The punch is your dream, Gavin. Follow your dreams.”

“But what if I get lost?” Gavin asked, indignant.

“You’ll be fiiiine. I’ll send out a search party if you’re not back by next week.” Gavin huffed.

“You better. At least point me in the direction of the store.” Ryan led Gavin out of the school and gestured vaguely to the left.

“Just go that way, make a few turns, and you’ll be there.” Gavin sighed loudly. This was stupid.

  


It took a little while to find the store, but Gavin managed to find it with directions from the locals. He purchased what he needed and began his trek back. He only got lost once on the way back, which he felt was pretty impressive. He re-entered the school and headed back to the rec room. Except… he got a little turned around. Everywhere he looked was just more empty hallways. He cursed under his breath. “Ryan?” Gavin called out tentatively. There was no response, but if Gavin really strained to hear, he could pick up something that sounded like a voice. Gavin headed in its direction. As he got closer, he realized it was chanting, and not your run of the mill, trying to conjure up a pen because you forgot yours back at the dorm kind of chanting, either. It was Latin. Gavin shivered and stopped walking. This might be bad news. Not many spells required Latin anymore and the ones that did were usually of dark magic. Gavin quietly set his grocery bags down and crept down the hall towards the voice. There was a part of him that was screaming at him to run, but Gavin’s curiosity won out. Finally, he came across a classroom with a door that was slightly ajar. Gavin carefully peeked through it and had to stifle a gasp. There was a cloaked figure, standing next to a girl laid out on top of a desk. As the figure chanted, purple light pulsed around the girl. Gavin felt sick. He stumbled backwards. He knew that spell, had seen it before. He should do something. He had to do something. But… what could he do? He couldn’t fight something like that. He barely got away the last time. He had to get help. He dashed down the hall, leaving the groceries behind.

Gavin finally skidded to a halt in front of a random teacher’s office. He banged on the door, praying someone would answer. The door was flung open and a rather stern looking woman glared down at him through her glasses. “Excuse me, young man, there’s no need to break down the door. I’m not hard of hearing.”

“Sorry, Miss!” Gavin gasped out. “It’s just… an emergency. I saw someone… performing dark magic!” Gavin barely managed to get the words out through his panting. The teacher’s eyes widened.

“Where? Show me!” Gavin swallowed thickly. He didn’t want to go back there, but he nodded. He led the teacher as quickly as possible back where he had come from. He knew he had the right hallway when he saw his grocery bags sitting against the wall. He pointed towards the classroom in question, the door now shut completely. The teacher tried the handle, but the door was locked. Which wasn’t unusual. All classrooms were locked when not in use. She muttered something under her breath and the door swung open. Gavin tensed but the lack of the teacher’s immediate reaction told Gavin that the classroom was now empty. So he tentatively approached and peered inside. Nothing looked out of place, but Gavin could still _feel_ that terrible magic. It felt like it was crawling under his skin, biting his nerves. “Well…” the teacher frowned as she spoke, “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary, but I sense a bit of dark magic. Could be anything, though. Hell, could’ve been a cheating spell. Happens a lot around here.” Cheating spell?! Couldn’t she feel it? The horrible, heavy air. The way all the shadows seemed alive and malicious. Gavin could almost hear them whispering in his ear, their sinister voices telling him to come closer, to embrace the darkness.

“Augh!” Gavin clutched at his head. No. Not this. Not now. “That was no cheating spell!” The professor was now looking at him with quite a bit of concern.

“Are you alright? What exactly did you see, young man?” Gavin bit his lip and let his hands drop to his sides.

“I’m f-fine. I saw… I saw someone standing over an unconscious girl. They were chanting in Latin. There was purple light. He was… I know what it was. I’ve seen it before. He was stealing her magic.” The woman looked horrified and Gavin wished he hadn’t told her the last part.

“Where in the world would you have seen something like that?” Her voice was sharp, almost accusing.

“I… uh… I saw it in a documentary once.” His lie was weak and he knew it. So did the teacher.

“Mm… hmmm. Well, I don’t think you saw what you thought you saw, in any case. Perhaps just a prank or something.” Gavin’s eyes widened.

“N-no! I know what I saw. We have to take this seriously.” The woman’s eyes narrowed.

“Excuse me, but I have been around quite a bit longer than you have and am a professor at this prestigious school. I think I would know better than you if there was a threat.”

“B-but--”

“No buts. Go on, before I have you sent back home for troublemaking.” The threat was enough to have Gavin leaving the classroom without a word. He picked his groceries back up on the way back. That old crone. She didn’t know anything. Everyone was in danger and she was just going to write it off because he was younger than her? Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He was going to have to talk to Michael and Ryan about this.


End file.
